ACG Clinical Guideline: Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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CLINICAL GUIDELINES 17 ACG Clinical Guideline: Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Brian E. Lacy, PhD, MD, FACG1, Mark Pimentel, MD, FACG2, Darren M. Brenner, MD, FACG3, William D. Chey, MD, FACG4, 5 6 7 02/05/2021 on BhDMf5ePHKav1zEoum1tQfN4a+kJLhEZgbsIHo4XMi0hCywCX1AWnYQp/IlQrHD3i3D0OdRyi7TvSFl4Cf3VC4/OAVpDDa8K2+Ya6H515kE= by http://journals.lww.com/ajg from Downloaded Laurie A. Keefer, PhD , Millie D. Long, MDMPH, FACG (GRADE Methodologist) and Baha Moshiree, MD, MSc, FACG Downloaded Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a highly prevalent, chronic disorder that significantly reduces patients’ quality of life. Advances in diagnostic testing and in therapeutic options for patients with IBS led to the development of this first-ever from http://journals.lww.com/ajg American College of Gastroenterology clinical guideline for the management of IBS using Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. Twenty-five clinically important questions were assessed after a comprehensive literature search; 9 questions focused on diagnostic testing; 16 questions focused on therapeutic options. Consensus was obtained using a modified Delphi approach, and based on GRADE methodology, we endorse the by following: We suggest that a positive diagnostic strategy as compared to a diagnostic strategy of exclusion be used to improve BhDMf5ePHKav1zEoum1tQfN4a+kJLhEZgbsIHo4XMi0hCywCX1AWnYQp/IlQrHD3i3D0OdRyi7TvSFl4Cf3VC4/OAVpDDa8K2+Ya6H515kE= time to initiating appropriate therapy. We suggest that serologic testing be performed to rule out celiac disease in patients with IBS and diarrhea symptoms. We suggest that fecal calprotectin be checked in patients with suspected IBS and diarrhea symptoms to rule out inflammatory bowel disease. We recommend a limited trial of a low fermentable oligosaccharides, disacchardies, monosaccharides, polyols (FODMAP) diet in patients with IBS to improve global symptoms. We recommend the use of chloride channel activators and guanylate cyclase activators to treat global IBS with constipation symptoms. We recommend the use of rifaximin to treat global IBS with diarrhea symptoms. We suggest that gut-directed psychotherapy be used to treat global IBS symptoms. Additional statements and information regarding diagnostic strategies, specific drugs, doses, and duration of therapy can be found in the guideline. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL accompanies this paper at http://links.lww.com/AJG/B755. Am J Gastroenterol 2021;116:17–44. https://doi.org/10.14309/ajg.0000000000001036; published online December 14, 2020 INTRODUCTION is highlighted by 1 study which reported that a majority of patients Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic, often debilitating, and wouldgiveup10–15 years of life expectancy for an instant cure for highly prevalent disorder of gut-brain interaction (previously called their condition and by another study which found that patients with functional gastrointestinal [GI] disorders) (1,2). In clinical practice, IBS would accept a median risk of sudden death of 1% if a hypo- IBS is characterized by symptoms of recurrent abdominal pain and thetical medication could cure their IBS symptoms (8,9). disordered defecation (1,3). The Rome IV criteria, derived by con- IBS causes a significant burden to health care systems worldwide. sensus from a multinational group of experts in the field of disorders As highlighted in a recent review article, direct medical costs at- of gut-brain interaction, can be used to diagnose IBS for both clinical tributed to IBS in the United States, excluding prescription and on and research purposes (4). Patients with IBS should report symp- over-the-counter medications, are estimated to be as high as 02/05/2021 toms of abdominal pain at least once weekly (on average) in asso- $1.5–$10 billion per year (10). High levels of health care resource ciation with a change in stool frequency, a change in stool form, and/ utilization, testing that is often unnecessary or performed too fre- or relief or worsening of abdominal pain related to defecation quently, and significant regional variation in testing and treatment (Table 1). Although bloating is a commonly reported symptom, its further contribute to substantial direct and indirect costs (11,12). presence is not mandatory to accurately diagnose IBS (4). The management of IBS has been examined in several recent IBS is a common source of referrals to gastroenterologists with a monographs, reviews, and position statements (1,3,4). These prevalence of approximately 4.4%–4.8% in the United States, publications summarize and review data and provide manage- United Kingdom, and Canada and affects most commonly women ment recommendations based on meta-analysis and/or expert and individuals younger than 50 years (5). Symptoms of IBS greatly opinion. However, essential diagnostic and treatment recom- affect patients’ quality of life (6,7), and this marked negative impact mendations have not been formally evaluated by the American 1Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, USA; 2Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, California, USA; 3Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA; 4Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; 5Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA; 6Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; 7Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of North Carolina, College of Medicine, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. Correspondence: Brian E. Lacy, PhD, MD, FACG. E-mail: [email protected]. Received April 15, 2020; accepted October 8, 2020 © 2020 by The American College of Gastroenterology The American Journal of GASTROENTEROLOGY Copyright © 2020 by The American College of Gastroenterology. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. 18 Lacy et al. data to assess the quality of evidence and given strength of rec- Table 1. Rome IV diagnostic criteria for irritable bowel ommendation. The quality of evidence was expressed as high syndrome (4) (estimate of effect is unlikely to change with new data), moderate, ff Recurrent abdominal pain on average at least 1 d/wk in the last 3 mo, low, or very low (estimate of e ect is very uncertain). GRADE associated with 2 or more of the following criteria uses objective reproducible criteria to determine quality of evi- dence and risk of bias among relevant studies, including evidence 1. Related to defecation of publication bias, unexplained heterogeneity among studies, 2. Associated with a change in the frequency of stool directness of the evidence, and precision of the estimate of effect 3. Associated with a change in the form (appearance) of stool (13). A summary of the quality of evidence for the statements is given in Table 4. The strength of recommendation is given as These criteria should be fulfilled for the last 3 months with symptom onset at least 6 months before diagnosis. either strong (most patients should receive the recommended Adapted with permission from Bowel Disorders. Gastroenterology 2016;150: course of action) or conditional (many patients will have this 1393–407. ©2016 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier. All rights reserved. recommended course of action, but different choices may be appropriate for some patients). In the case of conditional rec- ommendations, a greater discussion is warranted, so that each College of Gastroenterology (ACG) using rigorous Grading of patient can arrive at a decision based on their values and pref- Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation erences. The strength of recommendation is based on the quality (GRADE) methodology. This ACG clinical guideline was de- of evidence and risks vs benefits (14). veloped to provide clinicians with high quality evidence, when Weused a modified Delphi approach to achieve consensus. Each available, to support essential clinical questions relevant to the statement was presented during a monthly phone conference and diagnosis and management of IBS (Table 2). voted on by all expert authors. Statements were revised and then either presented again on a phone conference or circulated by email. SCOPE OF THE GUIDELINE AND METHODOLOGY One face-to-face meeting was held. The vote on the final recom- This guideline will focus on key issues related to the diagnosis and mendation and quality of evidence for each statement was unani- management of IBS. Given the complexity of IBS, it is not possible mous. A summary of the recommendations is given in Table 2. to address all diagnostic and management issues. Clinically rel- evant questions were developed by a panel of experts who focus Recommendation their clinical and research efforts on disorders of gut-brain in- teraction (previously called functional GI disorders). The group We recommend that serologic testing be performed to rule out formulated 25 key statements that followed the population, in- celiac disease (CD) in patients with IBS and diarrhea symptoms. tervention, comparator, and outcome format to guide the search Strong recommendation; moderate quality of evidence. for evidence (Table 3). These questions were answered by per- forming a comprehensive international literature search (see CD is an immune-mediated disease in which foods containing methods below). This guideline focuses primarily on the evalu- the storage protein gluten lead to enteropathy in genetically